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Month: July 2015

Gather Health empowers patients to take charge of their health by activating a holistic care team around them – including their physician, nutritionist, family, and other patients like them.

Turns out the best way to get people to exercise isn’t talking about long-term health benefits, but focusing on immediate rewards like stress relief, better mood, more energy, and opportunity to connect with family and friends. In fact, people who have goals aimed at losing weight or improving health tend to spend the least amount of time exercising.

More evidence that financial incentives can help people quit smoking, this time among pregnant women.

At-home self-testing of blood pressure was found to effective in helping people manage their hypertension and benefits continued six months after the program had ended.

In the US, changing regulations for telemedicine, with many states allowing establishment of doctor-patient relationship and prescription of medication by video. Washington recently became the 24th state to require insurance reimbursement for some telemedicine services.

How much of a difference can you make in 8 weeks? With Gather Health, a huge one.

Since 2014, Gather has been helping people with diabetes take better control of their health. Today we’re excited to announce some good results! Our newest whitepaper demonstrates high retention, decreased mean BG, and improved Bg control among patients using Gather Health.

Data from 1 clinic in Ahmedabad, India from 164 patients was analyzed. After 8 weeks, 75% of patients enrolled in Gather Health were still actively using the app.

Among these diabetics, there was an average 27 mg/dL decrease in mean BG and an 18% increase in ADA-defined in-range readings.

Most out-of-range readings were high (83%) and related to either food (64%) or feelings (16%). On average, the practice sent each patient about 1 message per week.

Eating a healthy diet is important, especially for those who are living with diabetes. Often when a person is diagnosed with diabetes, it is hard for them to know how to change their eating habits and how to make healthier choices at mealtimes. The American Diabetes Association has an easy method that one can use at anytime, anywhere, to help you make healthy choices at each meal.

The method is called the “create your plate” method. All you need is a little imagination and a regular-sized dinner plate (9-10 inches in diameter); no other tools are necessary! So let’s take a look:

Step 1: Take a regular-sized plate and imagine drawing a line down the middle of the plate dividing the plate in half. Then imagine that on one of these halves, you have another imaginary line that cuts it in half again so you will have three sections on your plate (one half section and two quarter sections):

Step 2: First fill one small section (a quarter of your plate) with protein. Proteins can include:

Skinless chicken

Skinless turkey

Fish

Lean beef

Lean pork

Tofu

Eggs

Low-fat cheese or yogurt

Step 3: Now fill the other small section (a quarter of your plate) with grains or starches such as:

whole grain breads

whole grain, high-fiber cereal

cooked cereal such as oatmeal

rice, pasta, dal, tortillas

cooked beans and peas

potatoes, green peas, corn, lima beans, sweet potatoes, winter squash

low-fat crackers, snack chips, pretzels and light popcorn

Step 4: Lastly, fill the largest section (half of your plate) with non-starchy vegetables such as:

spinach

carrots

lettuce

greens

cabbage

bok choy

green beans

broccoli,

cauliflower

tomatoes

onion

cucumber

mushrooms

peppers

turnips

okra

beets

Step 5: Add a serving of fruit, a serving of low-fat dairy or both as your meal plan allows (discuss this with your nutritionist or doctor).

Step 6: Try to opt for foods prepared with small amounts of healthy oils such as olive oil. Garnish your vegetables and salads with low-fat dressings, preferably vinaigrettes, or with a small portion of nuts or avocado. Use lemon juice, pepper, or herbs to add flavor to your food without adding fat.

Step 7: Quench your thirst with a low-calorie drink. Good choices include water, unsweetened tea or coffee. Avoid high sugar juices and sodas.